Oats Chivda (Savory Oats Cereal Mix)

I am always on the lookout for something to munch, mid-morning or mid-afternoon! If I don’t have something healthy around me, I reach out for whatever I can find 😀 So I am always looking for quick, healthy, snack ideas that are not only easy to prepare but can also be stored well for a few days.

Traditionally, Chivda is prepared with Poha or parched rice. Poha is fried and combined with other fried nuts and topped with some mild spices and chillies. The best part about this is that you can top it off any way you like. I generally liked topping mine with yogurt or some freshly grated carrot and coconut. (That is not part of the traditional recipe, but then no harm in adding a personal touch to the original recipe, right?) In this recipe, I have used rolled-oats instead of poha. And instead of deep-frying it, I have pan-roasted the oats to give it a good crunch! And I have used roasted peanuts, roasted gram (hurugadle), dried red chillies and curry leaves to top off the toasted oats 🙂 Definitely the oats chivda will taste slightly more different than the fried chivda snack. Deep-frying gives a melt-in-the-mouth texture to the traditional chivda. We are not deep-frying here, but the roasted oats give a very good crunch. The nutty flavor of oats blends in well with the groundnuts and other spices too!

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats

2 tsp oil

15 groundnuts (more or less as you like!)

15-20 curry leaves

4 tbsp roasted gram

4 dried red chillies (Torn into 2 parts each)

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp red chilli (For more heat – optional)

A big pinch of asafoetida(hing)

a big pinch of turmeric (haldi)

a pinch of citric acid (optional – adds a tangy taste)

1/4 tsp of sugar (optional – to balance out the taste)

Preparation Time: 0 min

Cooking Time: 15 min

Servings: 3-4

Method

Take a large non-stick pan. Add the oats to it and roast on low heat for about 8 mins. Roast it till the oats get crisp. You should be able to feel a light crunch when you bite into them.

Once the oats are roasted, take them out onto a separate plate. In the same saucepan, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the groundnuts. Roast them. Once they start changing color very lightly, add the roasted gram. Saute for a a few seconds. Add in the mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves too. Keep the heat on low to prevent everything from burning. Saute till the groundnuts are crunchy.

Turn off the heat and when the oil is still hot, add in the turmeric powder, asafoetida and chill powder (if you are using). Mix well. Add in the roasted oats to the pan and mix everything well again.

Sprinkle some sugar and citric acid and mix well. Store in an airtight container. If you feel that the oats have become soft after storing for a few days, just add the mixture to a pan and roast on low heat to make them crisp again.